Spare wheel carrier



June 4,- 1935. F. C.QBURNYETT EI'AL SPARE WHEEL CARRIER Filed Sept. 18,1933' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4; 1935.; c. BURNETT El AL SPARE WHEEL CARRIER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18, 1933 FRED C. BURNETT and Guy 5. ADA/-15.

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Patented June 4, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPARE WHEEL CARRIERFred C. Burnett and Guy S. Adams, Jackson, Mich., assignors to Ryerson &Haynes, Inc.," Jackson, Mich., a corporation of Michigan ApplicationSeptember 18, 1933, Serial No. 689,800

10 Claims. (01. 224--29) The present invention relates to carriermechature is provided for drawing the lower part of the nisms,particularly adaptable for the carrying of inner hub flange inwardly torock the central porspare wheels upon vehicles. tion thereof about thefulcrum to urge the upper An important object of the invention is toproportion of the hub flange into rigid engagement V d a Car uc e peferably having a with the ledge, particularly the forward portion 5hooked shaped ledge or the equivalent over which thereof, a p t Of theWheel s ead y a d, there be- Having specific reference to the drawings,a ing preferably a single manipulated member for carrier for sparewheels is shown in Fig. 1 consecurely and rigidly supporting the wheelupon the sisting of a bracket L) of suitable construction to ledge, thewheel part being rocked into stressed which is attached, by rivets,bolts, or the like, a 10 n m n w h h l d e p n m p tion of supportingplate H constituting a seat for the the member. hub flange of the wheel.A ledge 12 is preferably Other objects and advantages reside in theformed by lancing the plate II and forming the construction andarrangement and combination severed metal into the desired shapewhichmay of parts as will be hereinafter set forth in the have a baseportion l3 with the same curvature 15 description to follow. Theinvention and scope as the inner hub flange, and a shoulder orabutthereof is clearly set forth in the appended claims. ment l4. Tostrengthen the ledge I2, reinforc- In the drawings, ing ribs 15-46 maybe formed in the plate be- Fig. 1 is an enlarged fragmentary cross neaththe ledge and the shoulder, respectively.

sectional view through the improved carrier with Lugs or projections I lare illustrated as formt inner ub fla Of a Wheel in position, the ingfrom the plate H and protrude outwardly t n thr u t p rt p a being ta nfrom the plane thereof. These lugs are located on line ll of Fig. 2.below the ledge l2 andare laterally spaced at 2 iS a front elevation theS pp both sides thereof sufliciently to engage the outer Plate ched frome Carrier bracket. face of the inner hub flange l8 of the wheel 20. 5

3 iS a e amm i l p s ntati n o t Apertures 2| are provided in thesupporting plate k n action of h wh p n ma pulat n f I I forconveniently riveting or bolting the same to the securing member. c thebracket l0.

, 4 is a r t elevation of a ghtly modified In the mounting of the wheelupon the carrier, construction. the upper part of the flange IB isreceived upon 30 5 is a erossseetional view taken on line the ledge I2.One convenient way of securing 55 of Fig. 4. the flange in position isto index the same until Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of a furtherone of the several apertures 22 of the flange is modified form of theinvention. in substantial alignment with a threaded aper- Fig. 7 S afront elevation of the Supporting ture 23 in the plate H. Preferablywith the flange 35 plate shown in Fig. 6 removed from the carrier isfreely suspended upon the ledge l2 the aperbracket. tures 22-23 will notbe exactly coaxial; instead,

Generally, the present invention resides in an the axis of the aperture22 in the hub flange will improved carrier for spare wheels in which asupbe located slightly above so that when the cap porting plate or othersuitable structure upon screw 24 is tightened up the conical portion 2540 which the wheel is mounted is supported from a thereof will engagethe lower portion of the aperbracket attached to the vehicle. Aledge ofhookture 22 and exert a downwardly directed camshaped cross section ispreferably carried by the ming action drawing the upper portion of theupper portion of the supporting plate and spaced flange into firmengagement with base portion [3 therefrom sufflciently to readilyreceive a part of the ledge l2. At the same time the hub flange 45 ofthe wheel such as the inner hub flange. Below is being urged downwardlyby the drawing up of and laterally spaced from the ledge at opposite thecap screw, it will also be rocked about the sides are membersconstituting a fulcrum which lugs I! as a fulcrum urging the upperportion of may conveniently take the form of lugs or prothe flangeoutwardly into rigid engagement with jections pressed from thesupporting plate. the shoulder or abutment l4. From this it should 50These lugs project out of the plane of the supbe apparent that upon thedrawing up of a single porting plate and are positioned to be engagedsecuring means, the hub flange is urged into rigid by rear face of theinner hub flange at the sides engagement with fixed spaced surfaceslocated thereof. With the wheel suspended by its inner upon oppositesides of the flange, namely, the

flange, for example, from the ledge, suitable strucabutment l4 and thelugs l1. With the support- 55 ing plate H of sheet metal, the ledge i2will be sufficiently flexible to provide adequate yield between thecoacting part to prevent wearing loose. Preferably, the relative axialspacing of the lugs H and abutment I4 is such that the lower portion ofthe hub flange is not drawn into contact with the plate I! with the capscrew properly drawn up. This provides for reasonable wearing of theabutment l4 and lugs H.

In Fig. 3 the rocking action of the flange about the lugs H as a fulcrumis diagrammatically shown. The dotted line presentation is that of thehub flange freely received within the hookshaped ledge H! for suspendingthe wheel therefrom. The full line presentation shows the position theflange takes upon the drawing up of the cap screw resulting in therocking of the flange about the lugs 51 as a fulcrum.

As will be clearly understood, the supporting ledge for the hub flangemay take innumerable forms. For example in Figs. 4 and 5 a pair ofstepped rivets 26 are employed presenting abutments 2'! and a base 28for receiving the hub flange 29. The remaining structure may beidentical with that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In Figs. 6 and '7, a modified form of the invention is shown applied toa spare wheel carrier of the type disclosed in application, Serial No.670,- 132, flled May 9th, 1933. A bracket 39 of suitable constructionhas secured thereon a plate 3| forming a vertical seat for thehub flange32. A hookshaped ledge 33 is adapted to receive the upper portionof thehub flange to either suspend the wheel therefrom or support the same ina vertical position in a fender well. A stud 34 supported at 36 in theplate 3] has a cam 38 rotatably mounted thereon. A nut 39'is integrallyattached to the cam.38 to permit manipulationof the same by suitabletools. Lugs or projections 40 which correspond to the lugs I! inlocation and function are formed in the plate 3!. For urging the hubflange downwardly and rocking the same inwardly about the lugs 40 as-afulcrum, the cam has a lobe at 4| contiguous with a tapered flangeportion 42. With the hub flange vertically seated against the plate 3 I,rotation of the cam 38 from the dotted line position in Fig. 7 to thefull line position will result in the lower portion of the hub flange 32being urged downwardly and at the same time inwardly rocking the sameabout the lugs I as a fulcrum. As in the construction disclosed in Figs.1 and 2, the rocking of the hub flange results in urging the same intorigid engagement with the vertical disposed portion of the hook-shapedledge. As fully described in the aforesaid application, the hub flangewill be urged limitation upon its scope.

by the cam into engagement with the ledge by the rotation of the camwhen the wheel is to be suspended therefrom. However, when the rotationof the cam is employed to urge the spare wheel downwardly into the sparewheel fender well the hub flange will not be drawn down into contactwith the base of the ledge but will be fulcrum may be cast in onestructure or they may be integral with the bracket attached to thevehicle. The lugs or projections themselves may take innumerable formsand shapes; it being only essentialthat a surface is provided aboutwhich a part of the wheel may be rocked as a fulcrum. Furthermore, insome cases it may be found satisfactory to employ only a single lug orprojection about which to rock the wheel as a fulcrum.

In its broadest aspect, the present invention is considered as residingin a support or guide over which a part of the spare wheel may bereadily received and means for rocking the wheel about a fulcrum to urgethe same into stressed engagement with fixed surfaces for steadying thesame.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. 'In a spare wheel carrier, the combination of a bracket, a ledge ofhook-shaped cross section supported by saidbracket on which the hubflange of the wheel is arrangedto suspend the wheel therefrom, a fulcrummounted on said bracket below said ledge and engageable with the rearface of said hub, and securing means located below said fulcrum and insubstantially vertical alignment with said ledge, engageable with saidhub and acting to rock the wheel upon said fulcrum to urge said hub intorigid engagement with said ledge.

2. A spare wheel carrier comprising, the combination with a surface of aledge extending from said surface on which the upper portion of the hubflange of the wheel is arranged to suspend the wheel therefrom, ashoulder portion associated with said ledge and located on one face ofthe hub flange when the same is suspended upon said ledge, fulcrumingmeans located on the other face of said hub flange extending from saidsurface and below said ledge, and means engageable with the lowerportion of said hub flange for rocking the hub flange about saidfulcruming means and for urging the upper portion of said flange intorigid engagement with said shoulder.

3. A spare wheel carrier comprising the combination with a surface ofmeans extending from said surface upon which a part of the hub of thewheel is freely-hooked over to support the same, means extending fromsaid surface below said supporting means about which the wheel isadapted to rock as a fulcrum, and means engageable with a diametricallyopposite part of the hub of said wheel for rocking the same about saidsecond means into rigid engagement with said supporting means wherebythe wheel is rigidly supported.

4. 'A spare wheel carrier comprising the combination with a surface ofmeans extending from said surface upon which the hub of the wheel isfreely received for supporting the same, fulcruming means extending fromsaid surface about which the wheel is adapted to rock, and securingmeans engageable with said hub for rocking said wheel into rigidengagement with said first means whereby the wheel is rigidly supported.

5. A spare wheel carrier comprising means upon which an upper part ofthe wheel is freely received for supporting the same, fulcruming meansabout which the wheel is adapted to rock,

and securing means engageable with a lower part of said wheel forrocking and camming said wheel inwardly and downwardly into rigidengagement with said first means whereby the wheel is rigidly supported.

6. A spare wheel carrier comprising the combination with a surface ofupper means extending from said surface upon which the hub of the wheelis freely received for supporting the same, spaced intermediatefulcruming means extending from said surface about which the wheel isadapted to rock, said first means including an abutment axially spacedfrom said fulcruming means, and securing means extending from saidsurface engageable with the hub of said wheel spaced from said firstpart for rocking said first part outwardly into rigid engagement withsaid abutment and said second part inwardly.

7. In a spare wheel carrier, the combination of a bracket, a supportingplate secured to said bracket presenting a seat for the hub flange of awheel to be carried, an abutment associated with said seat, meansprojecting out of the plane of said plate to form a fulcrum about whichsaid flange is adapted to rock, securing means engageable with saidflange for urging the same toward said plate, said flange under theinfluence of said securing means being rocked about said fulcrum intorigid engagement with said abutment.

8. In a spare wheel carrier, the combination of a support forming avertical seat for the hub flange of a wheel to be carried, asubstantially horizontal ledge having an abutment associated therewith,said abutment being spaced from said support, means projecting out ofthe plane of said support to form a fulcrum about which said hub isadapted to rock, securing means engageable with said hub urging the sameinwardly toward said support, said hub under the influence of saidsecuring means being rocked about said fulcrum into engagement with saidabutment whereby the wheel is rigidly carried on said support.

9. In a spare wheel carrier, the combination of a support forming avertical seat for the hub flange of a wheel to be carried, asubstantially horizontal ledge having an abutment associated therewithfor receiving the hub flange, means associated with said support forminga fulcrum about which said hub flange is adapted to rock, and carnmingmechanism engageable with said hub flange for urging the same downwardlyinto firmer engagement with said vertical seat and inwardly to rock thesame about said fulcrum into rigid engagement with said abutment.

10. In a spare wheel carrier, the combination of a support forming avertical seat for the hub flange of a wheel to be carried, asubstantially horizontal ledge having an abutment associated

